Cannon Beach to Eugene, OR

     Sunday morning in Cannon Beach was phenomenal.  I ran on the beach while Faris stayed with the kids so they could sleep.  The sand is well packed so running is easy on the beach.  I ran right past Haystack Rock and could not think of anything other than the words to an old song called "The Majesty and Glory of Your Name".  There's a line that says "Oh what is Man that You are mindful of him?"  To think that God created this earth for our enjoyment and for us to explore is very humbling.  The fact that we are enjoying it so much right now is such a blessing.
     Mary Logue had her first haircut today by me.  I was careful not to disturb the mullet, only took a little off the front - now she can see instead of walking around with hair hanging in her face all the time.  We packed up and headed further down the coast.

Outside of Girabaldi

 Faris rode and flatted along the way so we stopped to give him the supplies he needed and rolled on to Netart's Bay.  Nothing much to speak of except for a beautiful sunset that we all watched in our pj's after a great dinner of grilled pork chops, baked sweet potatoes, and green beans.  The next morning we drove to Oceanside and had a phenomenal breakfast at Blowin' in the Wind.  Huckleberries, boysenberries, and blackberries are all in season right now and they picked the huckleberries for my pancakes right there by the beach next to the restaurant.  Faris had fresh dungeness crab scramble and I mean it was fresh.  Great little town and restaurant. 

Cape Meares

Cape Meares

We stopped at Cape Meares to see the lighthouse that was built in the late 1800's as a series of nine lighthouses along the Oregon Coast.  It has a French prism in it that was lit by kerosene until the 30's.  After packing up camp we headed to Cape Lookout for lunch while Faris rode on.

Cape Lookout

 Eli and Mary Logue played in the rocks on the beach, that is when Eli wasn't stressing about the birds eating his lunch.  I mentioned one thing about the birds getting our sandwich and that was all it took - he was guarding his sandwich with his life! 

Cape Lookout - they are big buddies now! 

We rolled on to Rose Lodge Salmon River RV park for our lodging.  Let's just say this one is not on the list of "preferred" RV parks for a reason.  Fine for us because we were the only ones there that did not take up permanent residence there!  Quite a cast of characters.  We had the whole "renter's circle" to ourselves!  It was pretty and right on the Salmon River.  Eli was in charge of saying the blessing at our dinner of red beans and rice tonight but he would hold our hands, close his eyes, and start singing "Ring Around the Rosy" and die laughing at himself.  We toasted marshmallows for s'mores which I think has been the highlight of this whole trip for Eli.  He sat in his chair and ate it without saying a word, which is a lot for him right now.  He.never.stops.talking.

Salmon River

     Tuesday was my favorite day so far on the trip.  We picked a bowlful of blackberries to be made into fried blackberry pies at a later date.

Salmon River

  We all rode into Sherwood and stopped at a local farm to pick up vegetables and fruit.  Everything we bought was grown right there on the farm - peaches, apples, tomatoes, corn, broccoli, and yams.  We rolled on into Mcminnville, OR which is known for its quaintness and its pinot noir.  We inquired about lodging at the Hotel Oregon, a McMennamin historic hotel and learned we could get a "European" king suite at a great rate, all you have to do is walk down the hallway to your bathroom!  Not a problem, we'll take it!  We went up to the rooftop bar and had some "Oregon pinot noir" which just means the grapes come from different regions of Oregon rather than just one region.  Dinner was great and the view was amazing - the Cascade range was visible from where we were sitting although it's about 60 miles from there.
     Breakfast at the Red Fox Wednesday morning was incredible.  The bread was still warm from baking and we had a baguette with homemade strawberry preserves and lattes in those white cups with the wide round rims - heaven. 

Red Fox in McMinnville

We loaded up and headed towards Corvallis, stopping at Eola Hills Vineyard on a recommendation from a local McMinnvillian.  Their pinot noir was nice so we picked up a couple of bottles and headed to Eugene.  We picked a couple of stems of grapes right off the vine for a snack in the car. 

Eola Hills

Park in Eugene

     Eugene is cool, home of the University of Oregon Ducks.  What a campus.  A lot of it feels urban because you cannot drive onto the campus, only around it.   As we hauled our camper right through the middle of the restaurant and bar area which is teeming with students just getting out of class at 4:50, we really did look like country come to town.  We got a couple of honks and I think they meant "get out of the way" not "welcome to the U of O".  We got Eli a t-shirt though dang it.

Autzen Stadium, football

 One interesting thing we noticed is that their track and field stadium (yes, stadium) is the size of most school's football stadium.  Unbelievable if you are a runner.  We took the kids to the Science Museum right there on campus which they loved, mainly because it had a train table, not because of all the other cool stuff they had.  I've decided we could have a train table and some rocks at our house and that would be plenty of toys for our kids. 

Cousin Eddie

     Both kids went to bed easily tonight and we are enjoying our new wine.  Tomorrow we start getting into Three Sisters and Mount Washington Wilderness.  Can't wait.  Everything is so good and we are loving this experience.

Astoria to Cannon Beach

     The night before our bellies were filled with fresh crab that our camping neighbor brought us from his fishing trip.  He literally caught them, boiled them,  and brought them to our table.   September is crabbing season in Oregon and we are fortunate to be a part of it!  Never have I had such a delicious crab in my life! 
      Our day started yesterday with packing up the Shasta after lunch with plans to head down the Oregon coast.  We packed everything up, loaded into the car, then realized Mary Logue had been playing with my phone and it was missing.  After a thirty minute frantic search which basically involved unpacking everything, we found it in the side door of the car - how did we miss that? 

 We dropped Faris off at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria and he rode the coast, stopping in Cannon City.  We went on to Manzanita with hopes of finding a camping spot at Nehalem State Park but what were we thinking?  It's the weekend!  So, we had some awesome pizza and beer, played on the beach, and reconsidered our options.  We headed back up to Cannon City and docked at the Sea Ranch RV Resort which is really nice. After a long day we were glad to get settled in and decided to stay two nights and enjoy the coast. 
     Morning started with pancakes and bacon cooked outside by Daddy, master chef.

We did a load of laundry then headed out to Ecola State Park for a hike to Indian Beach.  All I have to say about this is wow... it's a 1.5 mile hike that twists through rainforests and takes you up to scenic lookouts of the coast and Haystack Rock along the way.  The trees are so big a family of three could cozily live in the base.  

 

We had lunch on the beach where a really fat squirrel kept trying to take our lunch - I would shoo him and Eli would tell me that it was OK, he was just hungry - my little humanitarian. 

 We played in the extremely cold water and climbed the rocks on the cliff.  When the tide comes up in the rocks it leaves little anemones and sometimes starfish (which we did not see). 

Right when we were really getting into looking for sea creatures Eli began to melt down.  We stuck him in the backpack and he was trying to run while in the backpack because he was tired and wanted to go home - Faris and I could not help but laugh, it was such a funny site.  How do you know you're too old to sit in a kid pack?  When you can put your feet on the ground and run while you're in it! 

 Tried Ninkasi Radiant Ale brewed in Eugene, OR and neither of us cared for it.  We all showered tonight, watched a little football, and both babies were asleep in the big bed by 8:30.  Miracle of all miracles!  Sleep has been tough since we started this journey but they're getting the hang of it.  They are so sweet and so much fun.

Portland to Astoria

     So we made it to Oregon.  This five week trip has been in the works for a year now.  Faris and I started talking about how we have to just "go do it" if we want to do things - there's no right time or even good time at this point in our lives.  And while it may seem a little odd or even irresponsible to some, it's our perfect normal.   I started reading Donald Miller's book "Through Painted Deserts" and he has a quote that explains it perfectly - he says "We are shaped by our experiences.  Our perception of joy, fear, pain, and beauty are sharpened or dulled by the way we rub against time.  My senses have become dull and this trip is an effort to sharpen them."

The flight was good, had to wrestle Mary Logue to sleep but she stayed down for thirty minutes then sat in my lap the rest of the time.  On the second flight I took up the whole row and wouldn't let anyone sit by us - I think I deserved a third seat if anyone on that plane did!   We were so happy to see Faris at the airport - Eli ran up to him but Mary Logue was very skeptical because of his mustache & gave him the once over for awhile before deciding he was OK and was "dada".  Faris & Hunter dropped us off at the hotel and we crashed while Faris took Hunter to Matt's - sad to see him go, really wanted him to stay with us for a day but we were no fun for the first day anyway - really tired. 
     Had breakfast at the hotel then set off for Astoria, the oldest development west of the Rockies where Lewis & Clark ended up.  It is a beautiful fishing and shipping town that has maintained its quaintness.  We had fish and chips at the Bowmaker, an old ship, then rode the "train" according to Eli (trolley)  which told us the history of Astoria.

Fish n/Chips

We hopped off the trolley to see the sea lions and do a little foot racing on the pier (Eli was early off the blocks but said he won anyway).

Eli is quick off the blocks

Checked into our campsite at Ft. Stevens State Park, a beautiful park right on the Pacific Ocean.  The Peter Iredale is shipwrecked on the beach and you can walk right up to it and play on it.

wreck of peter iredale from 1906!

The beach is stunning, especially at sunset - the sand is black and the flora is lush and green - unlike any scenery we've seen before.  Lots of ferns and huge western hemlocks make up the forest.  As Eli said, "it's impressable Mama".  Our campground is gorgeous and Penny (what Eli named our camper) is perfect.  We cooked up a great dinner before the kids fell apart.  Our first attempt at getting them to sleep was comical, as Mary Logue looked like the pop up mole at Chuck E Cheese - she kept popping up & looking around, she was so lost.  Finally got them down and ML slept 8 solid hours - not bad for the first night. 





     Today was rainy so we loaded up the bike trailer and explored the Battery Russell here at Ft. Stevens.  The kids are so happy and having a great time running around, playing in the dirt, and just being with us.

Our little home